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S1 Research Project
Are The Beatles
the greatest band
of all time?
by
Evie Cockburn
1B2
Contents
Page 3 Introduction
Page 4,5,6 Background
Page 7,8 Arguments for the Beatles being
the greatest band of all time
Page 9,10,11 Arguments against the Beatles
being the greatest band of all time
Page 12 Opinion piece
Page 13 Conclusion
Page 14 Bibliography
Page 15 Acknowledgements
Page 16,17 Charts
Introduction
In this report I am going to discuss reasons for and against The
Beatles being the greatest band of all time. I have chosen this
question because I have grown up with The Beatles' music, and I
wanted to find out if I could prove whether the Fab Four really
are so fab.
People of my age are more likely to listen to bands such as One
Direction and The Wanted, and sometimes question my taste in old
fashioned music. Yet I wonder if people will still be listening to
One Direction in fifty years' time?
I have read many books about The Beatles, discussed their
popularity with both local people and internet users, conducted my
own surveys, and discovered lots of facts and figures about the
band, their records and their legacy. I intend to record my
findings objectively, although I will make my personal feelings
known in my opinion piece.
Background
The Beatles were all born in Liverpool during World War 2.
Originally, the band was made up of :-
John Lennon (guitar/vocals)
Paul McCartney (guitar/vocals)
George Harrison (guitar)
Stu Sutcliffe (bass)
Pete Best (drums)
They went to Hamburg in 1960 where they played almost constantly,
and this hard work and practise gave them the edge when they
returned to Liverpool, without Stu, and with Paul now on bass.
They were discovered at the Cavern Club by Brian Epstein, who
became their manager in 1962. Despite being turned down by Decca,
they were signed to Parlophone that year by George Martin, known
as 'the fifth Beatle', because of the influence he had on their
records. Swapping Pete Best for another local drummer, Ringo Starr
was one of his first suggestions. Their first single reached
number 17 in the UK charts, and the next seventeen singles all got
to number 1.
Only a year later, the phenomenon known as Beatlemania hit
Britain. In 1964 they made a film 'A Hard Day's Night' which
showed what life as a Beatle was like, complete with hysterical
screaming fans wherever they went.
They were the first British band to become very successful in
America, and then throughout the world. They stopped touring in
1966 because they couldn't be heard above the screaming, as
amplifiers weren't very powerful then, and concentrated on making
records and films.
Because of personal differences, they split up in 1970, but still
sell records today, as well as downloads to a new generation of
fans.
The Beatles: The greatest band of all time
“They were the greatest and most influential act of the rock era,
and introduced more innovations into popular music than any other
rock band of the 20th century.” iTunes website
The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with estimated
sales of over 1 billion units. They have had 17 number one singles
- more than any other act so far. They have had more number one
albums on the UK charts and have held the top spot longer than any
other artists. They have sold more albums in the US than anyone
else, having had nineteen number one albums on the Billboard
charts, the most of any artist. In 2008 they topped Billboard
magazine's list of all-time Hot 100 artists. They have 7 Grammy
Awards and 15 Ivor Novello Awards. Together they were in Time
magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential
people.
On February 9th 1964, their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show was
watched by over 73 million Americans – 38% of the population –
which is still one of the largest viewing audiences in the States.
The Beatles also inspired many bands like Oasis, who have a very
similar sound and have admitted to being huge Beatles fans. Jeff
Lynn's band, Electric Light Orchestra, also sounded a lot like The
Beatles, but then he was a friend and collaborator of George
Harrison. Their songs have been covered by hundreds of other
musicians, and even non-musicians such as William Shatner's
version of 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds'. Some of Queen's
earlier songs can be said to have a Beatles tone to their melody.
Fifty years after their first single was released, they are still
hugely popular, and it is possible to buy lots of Beatles
souvenirs, like calendars, mugs, t-shirts, all over the high
street and internet, and listen to new radio programmes being made
about them (Radio 2 Weds 16th Jan 10-11pm)
When I questioned local people and internet users about who they
thought the greatest band of all time was, The Beatles won easily
amongst all age groups. See Charts for the results.
The Beatles, unlike many bands today, wrote all their own songs
(with the occasional cover) and played all their own instruments.
George Harrison also started the world music trend when he worked
with Ravi Shankar, which influenced Peter Gabriel who set up the
Womad Festival. They started their own record company – Apple
Music – in 1968 and used this to help the careers of other
musicians, such as Mary Hopkins and Bad Finger.
The Beatles had to work with primitive equipment but made amazing
and influential music that has stood the test of time. Some of
their old houses in Liverpool have been preserved by the National
Trust, and Liverpool airport was renamed John Lennon airport.
The Beatles: NOT the greatest band of all time.
Other bands, such as Elvis (with his backing band The Jordanaires)
and Led Zeppelin, can also be considered contenders for the title
of greatest band. Both are still hugely popular, despite not being
active today, and also have record sales in the multi-millions.
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, formed in the late 1960s
and huge in the 1970s, especially in America. The band consisted
of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist
John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. They disbanded in 1981
after John Bonham's death. Considered to be one of the most
successful, innovative and influential groups in the history of
music, Led Zeppelin might have had higher record sales than The
Beatles if they had released singles as well as albums.
Elvis Presley is one of the most popular American singers of all
time, often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll". Elvis is
regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century
popular culture, but he died in 1977 at the age of 42. Even after
his death, he continues to sell millions of records, and his house
Graceland is a place where his fans go to worship him. If
anything, Elvis fans can be even more devoted than Beatles' fans.
During the punk era The Beatles were very unfashionable,
considered to be out of touch with normal people because of their
vast wealth. Lyrics were written about them, such as “Finally
Beatlemania has bitten the dust” The Clash, London Calling
Some of The Beatles songs were banned by the BBC for drug
references such as 'Fixing a Hole' and 'Lucy in the Sky with
Diamonds', which is said to refer to LSD; a drug which causes you
hallucinations. John Lennon said it was written about a picture
his son Julian Lennon drew of a schoolfriend. 'Come Together' was
also banned because it was promotion of Coca-Cola. The Beatles
were known to take drugs, and this could mean they are a bad
influence on young people.
The Beatles' and the Rolling Stones' fans often hated each other
and many riots were caused and many people were hurt, just because
of their taste in music. This isn't right and people should be
able to like whatever music they want.
John Lennon once said “We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't
know which will go first - rock'n'roll or Christianity.” This
caused Americans to burn their books, records and merchandise;
they had many bonfires all over the country, and some people have
still not forgiven John Lennon for his remark.
Opinion
I personally feel that The Beatles are the greatest band of all
time because their music inspired so many other artists. Even
though their first single was released 50 years ago, they are
still capturing new generations of fans with their timeless songs.
Every day I hear their songs on the radio, and songs of other
bands that have so obviously been influenced by them. I have
learnt to play their songs on the piano, the guitar, and the
ukele.
The Beatles continue to bring pleasure to millions of people and
continue to sell records worldwide. (Although, today there songs
are more likely to be downloaded.) You only have to look on the
internet to see how popular they still are. Put 'The Beatles' into
Google and it comes up with 107 million results.
Conclusion
In this report, I have described who The Beatles are and how they
became so popular. I have included facts to show that they are,
without doubt,the best selling band in the world, even though they
stopped touring in 1966. Their influence is long-standing and far
reaching.
I have also featured other bands who might be considered the
greatest band of all time, and explored the downside of The
Beatles. As idols to so many people, their drug taking was
irresponsible, and they also angered a lot of Christians. The
punks of the 1970s thought they were out of touch.
However, I firmly believe that, despite all this, they truly are
the greatest band of all time, and that their influence will
continue for many years to come.
Bibliography
Books:
'Hail, Hail, Rock'n'roll' by John Harris, Sphere 2009
'The Beatles' by Richard Brassey, Orion 2003
'The Beatles: Unseen Archives' by Tim Hill and Marie Clayton,
Parragon 2001
'The Unseen Beatles' by Bob Whittaker, Conran Octopus 1991
'The Beatles: A Celebration' by Geoffrey Guiliano, Sedgewick &
Jackson 1986
Websites:
The Official Charts website
Beatlesfacts.org
Rock.about.com
BBC website
iTunes website
'A Hard Day's Night' (film)
Oral history source: George Cockburn
Acknowledgements
Thank you -
To my father, George Cockburn, for passing on his love of The
Beatles, and all the facts he has about them stored in his brain.
To my mother, Tania Cheston, for grammar and spell checking, and
for pointing out that other great bands do exist.
To my teachers, for nominating me.
To all the people who answered my survey, and to Eilidh Fraser for
standing in the cold while I conducted it.
To Kieron O'Neill, for his musical knowledge.
Charts
The full Official Singles Artists Top 15 Of All Time:
1 THE BEATLES
2 ELVIS PRESLEY
3 CLIFF RICHARD
4 MADONNA
5 MICHAEL JACKSON
6 ELTON JOHN
7 QUEEN
8 ABBA
9 DAVID BOWIE
10 RIHANNA
11 PAUL McCARTNEY
12 KYLIE MINOGUE
13 ROLLING STONES
14 ROD STEWART
15 TAKE THAT
The Official Top 10 Biggest Selling Groups Of All Time:
ARTIST COMBINED SALES
TOTAL
BIGGEST SELLING SINGLE
1 BEATLES 22.1 MILLION SHE LOVES YOU
2 QUEEN 12.8 MILLION BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
3 ABBA 11.3 MILLION DANCING QUEEN
4 ROLLING
STONES
10.1 MILLION (I CAN'T GET NO) SATISFACTION
5 OASIS 9.079 MILLION WONDERWALL
6 TAKE THAT 9.078 MILLION BACK FOR GOOD
7 SPICE GIRLS 8.0 MILLION WANNABE
8 BEE GEES 7.6 MILLION HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE
9 U2 7.5 MILLION WITH OR WITHOUT YOU
10 STATUS QUO 7.2 MILLION ROCKIN' ALL OVER THE WORLD
These figures come from the Official Charts website, and are for
UK sales only.
Who is the greatest band of all time?